Get Accurate, Flat Frequency Response for Better Quality Mixes

The Yamaha HS8 Active Studio Monitor is the last word in excellence in Yamaha's HS line of powered speakers. In terms of cost-to-benefits, the HS8 unquestionably rewards you for the investment. These monitors' perfectly flat tonal response and true-to-life dynamic rendering yields a sound image that is astoundingly clear. The HS8s are of true bi-amp design, and drive all the way to maximum output without clipping or distortion, while preserving accurate dynamic ratios.

Get a closer look at HS Series monitors in this video from Yamaha:

Great Cabinet Design Means Accurate Sound

Like the rest of the HS line, the HS8s benefit from revolutionary cabinet design. For inspiration in rethinking the HS8's housing, Yamaha drew on their 100 justly celebrated years of piano design. And from their pianos, they developed a three-way mitered-joint technique for these cabinets. This makes them not only minimally cross-resonant, but extremely durable as well.

Please Speak Clearly

The attractive white 8-inch cone woofer and 1-inch black dome tweeter in the HS5s sit in a uniquely re-designed mounting ring that eliminates any undesirable vibrations. Each monitor also employs an extra-large magnet, creating a more uniform flux field. This yields a smooth response and greater dynamic capability over a wider frequency range. The magnets themselves are selected to provide the greater possible fidelity in the low-end frequencies, which is typically the hardest range to manage when mixing audio. The tweeter frames in turn are built extra thick, minimizing interference in the high end.

True Bi-amp Power

The HS8's 2-way bi-amplified designed means that the woofer and tweeter are powered by separate amps. This eliminates undesirable interaction between the units, and any signal distortion resulting from phase differences.

Perfect for Surround Sound Mixing

5.1 and 7.1 surround systems are continuing to become more commonplace in public and private music listening settings. The HS8 is a premium solution for building out your surround mixing station. Combine a set of four or six HS8s with a single HS10W subwoofer and you'll be ready to start mixing multi-channel!

Here, There, or Anywhere

Apart from the design of a monitor, the single greatest factor influencing accuracy is the room where they're located. Room size, shape, and surface materials all affect what you're hearing during playback. The HS8 gives you Room Control, Mid EQ, and High Trim controls for good room-matching. You'll tweak the Room Control setting to compensate for any unnaturally exaggerated low end. Then you'll use Mid EQ and High Trim switches to get your mids and highs in the right place.

Yamaha HS8 Active Studio Monitor

The Yamaha HS8 is a 2-way bass-reflex bi-amplified near field studio monitor with 8" cone woofer and 1" dome tweeter.

When choosing reference monitors for mixing and music production, accuracy is the prime consideration. Speakers that sound "good" on first impression may not necessarily be accurate. What you really need is an honest reference for your mix, rather than monitors that have been tweaked or colored to deceptively sound impressive.

The HS series reference monitors have been created by Yamaha's studio monitor engineering team to deliver exceptionally flat, accurate response that you can trust. Unlike "monitor" speakers with exaggerated bass and treble that make a good first impression but can't be relied on for accuracy, the HS series were designed to be true studio reference monitors in the tradition of the legendary Yamaha NS10M.

Whether you're mixing for stereo or 5.1 surround, mixes that sound good on Yamaha HS series reference monitors will translate accurately to the widest possible range of reproduction systems -- which is engineer-speak that simply means they'll sound good on anything. And that is the ultimate goal of any reference monitor. It's also worth mentioning that the HS-series monitors not only sound great, they look great, too. The HS Series features transducers that achieve astonishingly smooth response over a wide range of frequencies.

High-performance Speakers and Mounting System

The elegant white-cone speakers used in the HS-series monitors deliver superlative audio performance that is further enhanced by a carefully engineered mounting system. A system of screws and a specially designed mounting ring eliminates spurious vibration and resonance, allowing the speaker to deliver its full sonic potential. Another feature that boosts woofer performance is a magnet selected to produce accurate, solid low-end response. The tweeter frames employ an advanced smooth-contour design that minimizes losses so that high-frequency details come through with remarkable accuracy. The extra thickness of the tweeter frame also minimizes resonance that can interfere with high-end clarity. The overall result is extraordinarily smooth, accurate response throughout the audio spectrum.

The Benefits of Built-in Power and Bi-amplification

Powered, bi-amplified monitor speakers simply make the most electrical and sonic sense, and that's why they have become the first choice of sound professionals the world over for near- and mid-field monitoring applications. In addition to the obvious advantage that you don't need separate power amplifiers, the fact that power and speakers are integrated in one unit means that the amplifiers can be perfectly matched to the characteristics of the speaker units used so you get consistently superior performance with any source in just about any listening environment. Bi-amplification means that separate power amplifiers are used to drive the low-mid and high-frequency speaker units, and this eliminates interaction between the units as well as the response and phase anomalies introduced by passive crossover networks. Both speaker units can function at optimum performance levels for correspondingly high overall sonic quality.

Large Magnets in an Advanced Magnetic Circuit Design

One feature of the HS-series monitors that you'll hear but are not likely to see is the extra large magnets. In combination with an advanced magnetic circuit design these magnets provide a powerful, uniform, tightly controlled flux field that results in exceptionally smooth response and dynamic capability over a wider frequency range.

Portable, Versatile Monitoring for Your Audio Workstation

All you really need for top-class stereo production capability is a good audio workstation and a pair of HS-series monitors. A system like this is not only portable and extremely easy to set up anywhere you need it, it can deliver outstanding monitoring performance that will let you get your mixes just right. The response-control features of these monitors let you tweak them for the best response no matter where you set them up.

Serious Surround Production

Although stereo is still the most common format for basic music listening, 5.1 surround has become the audio format of choice for today's advanced visual media, and is beginning to be recognized as a superior vehicle for pure musical enjoyment as well. But to properly mix and produce surround sound you need a good 5.1 monitoring system. The HS-series speakers and subwoofer are the perfect choice if you want competitive surround-monitoring performance without having to spend big-studio megabucks to get it. Combine five HS50M or HS80M powered near-field reference monitors with one or more HS10W subwoofers, and you're ready to produce and deliver state-of-the-art surround sound.

Optimum Response In Any Room

Speaker response can vary greatly depending on the size, shape, and surface acoustics of the room in which they're used, as well as how they're placed within that environment. The HS50M and HS80M give you extra room-matching and speaker placement versatility with ROOM CONTROL, MID EQ, and HIGH TRIM response control switches that are specifically designed to compensate for common acoustic deficiencies and monitoring needs. The ROOM CONTROL switch, for example, can be used to compensate for the unnatural low-end exaggeration that usually occurs when speakers are placed close to walls or in corners. The MID EQ switch gives you subtle midrange boost and cut options in addition to flat response, while the HIGH TRIM switch offer the same type of response-tailoring capability for the high frequencies.

Overall:
I am very pleased with the HS8 monitors. I have used KRK, Adam, and others. I feel that the HS8 has the best representation of what you are mixing. Other brands I have used seem to have a slight low-mid scoop, or a colored high-end. The HS8's are on the money and probably the best buy of any monitor costing $0-$1000 each. Buy them...you will be glad you did.

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"F**king AWESOME! Just being blunt! "

Overall:
All I can say is the translation from these speakers to other audio systems is FANTASTIC! That's what I was looking for! I used to mix on the M-Audio BX8's and they sound pretty good and loud but the translation was just not good. I would think I have the mix on point and then take the mix to my earbuds or car system and things wouldn't sound how they did on the BX8's.
However that problem is no longer with me now that I have the Yams!!! Completely different experience in the best way possible! I would recommend these to anyone who really cares about getting perfect levels and hearing sounds and frequencies as they really are!
Another great thing about the Yams is they sound so true up front. I was worried about my lack of accoustic treatment still giving me problems with reflections and not being able to mix right! Not the case with these. They are just so balanced that you don't really get that problem! Now I'm not saying don't treat your room if you can help it haha, by all means try and treat your room right!
I can't say enough great things about these monitors!
Balanced low end which sound amazing as well as. I mix a lot of hip hop and record vocals. So those are the main things I care about. Especially getting the right vocal mixes. A1! I am able to really judge the right levels and EQ for vocals and sit them into the mix properly. Now I can actually have fun mixing again instead of stressing if I was getting things to sound right!
Hope this helps! Also, Zzounds is amazing! I literally got these monitors shipped to my house in 2 days! Not a single problem! They even email you like 10 days before the next payment comes out to give you a heads up! Really stand up customer service!
You will enjoy these bad boys! ;)

Style of Music: I primarily work in Hip-Hop, Trap, Pop and R&B genres!
I also have experience with electronic, rock and heavy metal music.

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A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.

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